Everyone seems to love the combination of sweet and salty and this, my friends, is probably going to the top of your “favourites” list.
- 1 1/2 cups whipping cream (36%) if you are lucky enough to find it
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 4 tbsp. cornstarch
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. fleur de sel
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. spiced rum
For the pudding combine the cream and milk and set aside. In another bowl, beat the eggs and cornstarch and set aside. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, salt and cold water. Cook until the sugar turns a deep golden brown.
Add the cream mixture slowly to avoid splashing. The caramel will harden but continue to stir to dissolve it once again. Pour the hot mixture slowly over the egg mixture, whisking quickly.
Raise the heat to medium and cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat (for sure) and add the butter and rum. Stir well to mix completely and pour into 6 of your prettiest glasses. Cover with plastic wrap, making sure it touches the surface of the pudding and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Sauce
- 1/3 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 cup vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 1 tbsp. butter
- 1 tbsp. corn syrup
- 1/4 cup sugar
In a small saucepan,. bring the cream and vanilla bean to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the butter and set aside to cool to room temperataure. In another pan (sorry) add the corn syrup, sugar and 2 tbsp of water. Cook until it become a golden colour. Remove from the heat and SLOWLY add the cream, stirring until the caramel is completely dissolved. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the caramel. Discard the bean. Let cool to room temperature.
When ready to serve, remove the plastic wrap, divide the caramel sauce equally among the dishes, add a spoonful of creme fraiche or plain greek yogurt and a sprinkle of fleur de sel.
Banoffi Tart
This is, originally, an English dessert but we will add just one thing to add a French influence. Banoffi means “can’t take it off” and the English establishment couldn’t take it off their menu it was sooooo good.
Try it. Seeing as how salted caramel is the latest rage, it might hit the top of the list for you too.
Crust
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- pinch of fine sea salt
- 6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
- 2-3 tbsp. cold water
Pulse the flour, sugar and salt to combine. Add the butter and pulse until it becomes a coarse texture. Mix 2 tbsp. water, vinegar and egg yolk together to combine and add to the flour mixture while still pulsing. If the dough doesn’t come together in about 5 pulses, add the remaining tbsp. of water. Shape into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-2 1/2 hours.
Filling
- 2 tins sweetened condensed milk
- pinch of Fleur de sel
For filling, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Scrape condensed milk into a 9 inch pie plate and stir in the fleur de sel. Cover with foil and place inside a larger pan with at least 1 inch of water in the bottom.Bake for about 2 hours, without stirring. Be sure to top up the water in the outer pan throughout the cooking process. Uncover, let sit to cool for about 20-25 minutes. Then scrape into a bowl, whisking until smooth and now chill until read to use.
While the filling is cooking in the oven, roll out the pastry disc to about 1/3 inch thick and place in a 9 inch fluted tart pan with removable botttom.
Prick with a fork and chill for half an hour.
Reduce oven to 375 degrees.
Assembly
- 2 large bananas, sliced
- 2 tbsp. white rum
- 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. fleur de sel
- 1/2 cups whipping cream
- 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
- toasted almonds and chocolate shavings for garnish
Line the pastry disc with foil and fill with dried beans. Set pan on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature now to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes more. Remove the foil and bake a further 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.
Mix 1 tsp. vanilla and rum together and toss the banana slices gently to coat. Spread into a single layer on the crust. Now carefully spread the toffee on top, covering the bananas and sprinkle with the fleur de sel.
Whip the cream to soft peaks, add the sugar and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. Spread this over the entire pie and garnish with the toasted, sliced almonds. Chill until ready to serve.
This can be made the day ahead but keep refrigerated.
,